1. Technical Field
This invention relates to transmitting multiple independent signals. In particular, this invention relates to transmission of unique pieces of information simultaneously over a single transmission channel.
2. Related Art
Systems for multiplexing multiple independent signals are known in the art. Examples include frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, and code-division multiplexing. Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a form of signal multiplexing where multiple baseband signals are modulated on different frequency carrier waves and added together to create a composite signal. Time division multiplexing (TDM) is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more apparently simultaneous channels are derived from a given frequency spectrum, i.e., bit stream, by interleaving pulses representing bits from different channels. Code division multiplexing is a method of multiple access that does not divide up the channel by time (as in TDM), or frequency (as in FDM), but instead encodes data with a certain code associated with a channel and uses the constructive interference properties of the signal medium to perform the multiplexing.
Existing multiplexing methods require significant computational resources to implement, and may not be practical for implementation in an automotive environment where the vehicle head unit experiences competing demands on its processor resources. Therefore, a need exists for a multiplexing system that can provide multiple independent informational signals on a single interconnect while using a small amount of computational resources.